Miriam Barukh Halfi

Miriam Barukh Halfi was born in 1914 in Sokołów Podlaski

Miriam Halfi was born in Sokołów, Poland, to the Sternbaum family. Her father Barukh was a merchant and taught her Hebrew, and the home was traditional and Zionist. Her mother Rachel died in Poland, and in 1925 she moved to the Land of Israel with her father and siblings and settled in Tel Aviv.

She studied at a night high school, Gymnasia Humanista, and in a course for kindergarten teachers. As a girl she worked at various jobs to help her family. She then worked as a teacher and kindergarten teacher in special education.

In 1937 she married the poet Shimshon Halfi. In 1952 the couple was sent to Mexico to teach in the Tarbut school system, where she founded a Hebrew kindergarten and studied sculpture in Mexico City. Back in Israel she studied sculpture with Rudi Lehmann and Dov Feigin, and her work was shown at the Israel Museum.

She first published poems under the pen name Miriam Barukh. Her first book appeared in 1992 and her second in 1999, when she revealed her identity. She died in Tel Aviv in 2002, and her daughter is the poet Raquel Halfi.